malicious | max verstappen

twenty one.

"I would be okay with it if I got hurt but, if I do I wouldn't have you around to calm me down." I told her, "Plus, imagine the headlines: Rivals and sworn enemies end up together? No, people are more creative than that. But one thing I know for a fact is that they will be ruthless, so why would I do that to myself?"

"Who cares what people think or write or say? They don't know the things you know, they don't know your point of view, why you're you, why you do the things you do, so why should their opinions matter snd dictate the choices you make?" She asked a very good question, "In the end, all is fair in love and war."

I sighed, "But then I'd end up falling into his trap. And who knows 100% that he feels the same way about me? I'd rather bottle my emotions away and play him like how he played me."

My mother shrugged once again, "You do you. If you realize midway that the path you took is the wrong one, don't hesitate to turn to the right one."

I nodded before we settled in a calm silence. My racing heart ever so slightly slowly down.

"I need you to promise me something, though." I heard my mom speak up so I raised my head to look at her, nodding once more as an indicator for her to continue, "You can't let my death affect you. Affect your racing, your relationships with your friends, affect anything that makes you, you. Use my death as a motivator, to be the best version of yourself that I can be proud of while watching over you. I know you can win the championship, so if it gets hard— think about winning it for me, okay?" A tear slipped from her eyes and I quickly wiped it away while stopping mine from falling free. I nodded at her before looking away, allowing some tears to slip.

After that was a blur, apparently I fell asleep for a few minutes. As well as my mom. The doctor had to come and grab me since it was time for her to rest.

The group had increased immensely. Apparently a bunch of people rushed to the hospital after being updated on the news.

People asked me whether I was okay or not, others who didn't know my mom didn't have a lot of time left asked me why I didn't tell them, some cried, some were pale with surprise. I could barely answer any questions.

Carlos, Lewis and Daniel acted as my bodyguards, answering the questions I didn't want to answer myself. I could tell Max wanted to join them but Kelly was here and she was clinging onto him like crazy.

It was safe to say everyone's moods had changed drastically. Still, a lot of people headed back home since it was late yet I remained in place.

I ignored the pang in my heart when Max left with Kelly, more like got dragged by Kelly. It was the third day and only Lewis, Carlos, Daniel, Lando and Monica stayed with me. They had asked Charles who was going to pass by the house and come back first thing in the morning to bring some new, more comfortable clothes for us since we had no intentions of leaving the hospital until absolutely necessary.

We had to fly out to Belgium for the start of the second half of the season on Wednesday. That was two days away from today.

I appreciated how everyone tried their best to cheer me up and lighten the atmosphere, especially Daniel and Lando, being the chaotic duo they always are. However, Carlos was oddly quiet and I could only squeeze his and Monica's hand in support— this wasn't just hard on me. They've known my mother for longer than I have, after all.

Eventually, I couldn't just stay in the hospital and had to pack for the upcoming race weekend. I was dreading it. I didn't feel like driving. I just wanted to be by my mom's side and never leave, but the reminder of seeing her proud of me has never failed to motivate me, no matter how much I had no interest in racing this time around.